Is this supposed to be my experience, or am I doing something wrong?

Honestly, I've been dumbfounded at the problems these discs have presented. I created and burned them with ImgBurn and they play just fine off of my Sony BDP-S580 and older JVC XV-BP1.

The only suggestion I would have is to first unpack everything from the ISO to your hard drive. Then, write the BDMV and CERTIFICATE folders to your disc in UDF 2.50 format. It might work...or it might just be a waste of discs. Sorry, I wish I had a better suggestion.